Mayor’s Budget Plan Favors Capital Projects

Mayor Richard Berry today will send a budget proposal to city councilors that expands his effort to plow money back into “game-changing” capital projects rather than basic operating expenses.

He will propose that about $3 million in next year’s $478 million operating budget be set aside for special capital improvements – perhaps for a 50-mile bicycle loop around the city or recreational areas in the Rio Grande bosque. The projects haven’t been determined yet.

Overall, the mayor’s budget would boost city spending about 2 percent over this year’s levels.

The $3 million would be one-time funding to finance a project with cash, Berry said.

That’s in addition to $3 million a year he is proposing to cover $50 million in bonds for construction of a new Paseo del Norte interchange, which is going to voters in November.

Berry’s budget proposal won’t include layoffs, pay cuts, tax increases or reductions in the operating hours of city amenities, he said. In some cases, such as at the Veterans Memorial Park, he intends to expand hours.

Berry, who’s in the middle of his four-year term, said the city has worked to rein in its operational spending, allowing the savings to go toward construction projects.

“We’re putting it back into the built environment,” Berry said Thursday in an interview. “… The tough decisions over the last several years are starting to pay off.”

Berry will release a detailed budget proposal today. He said it would include:

♦ Additional staffing at the Animal Welfare and Transit departments, as well as the veterans park.

♦ $115,000 to help Albuquerque Public Schools start an International Baccalaureate scholar program. The money would be used to pay startup costs and help students of “any income” pay their testing fees. APS doesn’t have such a program but plans to start one at Sandia High School.

♦ $2.2 million to replace about 50 police cars.

♦ Renewing the funding set aside this year to pay for a 1 percent pay raise for employees making less than $50,000 a year. His administration offered a 1 percent raise this year to those employees, but it didn’t go into effect for people covered by unions because the two sides are still in negotiations.

♦ $200,000 to continue a “Running Start” program that provides job and technical training to youngsters.

City Councilor Ken Sanchez, chairman of the council’s finance committee, said he hadn’t seen the mayor’s budget proposal, but he’s skeptical of pouring more money into capital spending. City departments need the money to carry out their work.

“Basic services in the city are in dire need,” he said.

Over the last 10 years, before Berry took office, the city repeatedly transferred property-tax revenue traditionally earmarked for the capital program over to the basic operating budget. Proponents of the switch said it didn’t make sense to build museums and the like if the city didn’t have the money to pay for operating them or for basic amenities.

Berry’s effort to fund capital projects with operational money reverses that trend at City Hall.

Property-tax transfers total about $48 million in this year’s operating budget.

Next year’s budget would take about $6 million of that amount for “ABQ: The Plan,” which seeks to boost the city’s investment in capital projects that support economic development, tourism and qualify of life.

The $3 million in one-time cash available this year, plus the Paseo del Norte bonds, are part of the plan.

The money could be used for “anything that’s a game changer in Albuquerque,” the mayor said.

Councilors have until May 31 to hold public hearings and either amend or approve the mayor’s proposal. The fiscal year starts July 1.

Journal staff writer Hailey Heinz contributed to this report.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal